Hey man, I'm also twenty and stepping out from the shadows of my parents and the paved road. You are no fool. If you think it's time to leave the nest and fly, you need to have checkpoints to make that feeling into reality. I think that you might want to educate yourself on personal finances first, don't want to kick yourself in the shins after you break away from your parents and starve. A good start would be The Motley Fool's Investment for Teens book, and keeping track of your expenditures in a google doc sheet or some other medium- this allows you to realize how much is required to keep alive and fed. Maybe you find you can start cutting some luxuries off. It's ironic because my parents still pay for everything, but I'm starting to have an understanding of what is required to live indendently. Credit cards, bank accounts, electricity, internet, transportation, water, and food are something I have to be able to pay for on my own. List the money going out, you've got to do it. No umms and IFs, you've got to see the numbers. Also, start thinking more selfishly- for your own best interests, and not someone else's. Maybe I can suggest another few books: How to Win Friends and Influence People, by Dale Carnegie (for social interactions), 48 Laws of Power (sort of self help, but very interesting and have anecdotes), A Random Walk Down Wall Street (Investment). Social interactions will be crucial. It has been reiterated and sounds absolutely banal, but it's about the people you meet that can connect you with people that can help you. Quality over quantity. In China, having connections is a given. Have you written a resume? A cover letter? Need those. I was forced to write mine in first year university, and am currently using it. Maybe you could ask your local librarian (I remember they have a lot of resources, not sure about where you are though) for an introduction to how to write one. Then spam it to part time jobs you can apply to. If what they control you with is money, then that is what you can use to free yourself. Know the fight. The year will be difficult. Part time jobs and university is tough. Quality studying can be done- the key is in discipline. DISCIPLINE. I love your writing. Best of luck, sorry I'm being brief, typing on my phone is hard. I will try my best to answer any other questions (do take in mind I'm no expert).
The idea of part-time jobs scares me. I'm not sure that I'll benefit from them all that much. All I can do with such a job here is 10k, at best, which is half of what I need to survive while renting - all for the rest of the day that I could better spend on studying and writing something that could actually help me make money later as a writer. Part-time jobs, for me, is the kind of pit people scare themselves with to do better, like Boogeyman used to scare children into doing their chores. Feeling lazy? "Part-time jo-o-o-ob!" - "Ah, fuck! I'm working, I'm working!". Feeling like spending this bit of money on this little unnecessary thing that will only yield temporary pleasure? "Pa-a-art-ti-i-i-ime jo-o-o-ob!" - "Fuck off! I'm checking my finances, I'm checking 'em!"... Finances, though. Check; gonna start researching it later. Thanks for letting me know. As for social interactions - I feel like I'm grasping them, given that I have a few ideas about what's the best practice in conversing with people. I hope they'd be a good theoretical basis for practice, as right now, I can't afford buying the book and am pretty sure I won't be able to rent it from a library. Either way, I'll learn when I fail if they aren't. And thanks for reminding me that I have something to work for.